The Nationalist Party achieved an electoral result it could build on, Roberta Metsola said on Sunday, as she was given an enthusiastic welcome by supporters at the Naxxar counting hall.

Supporters chanted "Roberta! Roberta!," and sang "Nazzjonalisti, Nazzjonalisti"  as the PN's lead candidate and president of the European Parliament, surrounded by a crowd, went round the hall, thanking the party agents watching over vote-counting in each district. 

Projections showed Metsola on course to possibly achieve the biggest number of votes won by any Maltese candidate in the EP elections, although no results have been issued yet.

She thanked all those who had voted, particularly young people voting for the first time, and also candidates from all parties, particularly the newcomers. 

She also thanked PN leader Bernard Grech, saying they had worked together as a team to convey a message of hope. "We went to meet families who opened the doors to us and heard us, as we heard them," she said.

That the PN had considerably reduced the gap to Labour was 'a result we can build on' Metsola added. The democratic process had worked well, democracy had triumphed, she said, and she was pleased by the high turnout in Malta.   

Asked if she would involve herself in local politics, Metsola said she made no distinction between the two.

Metsola will this evening be keeping a close eye on the outcome of EP elections in the other European Union countries, with success for the PPE party giving her a strong possibility of winning a second term at the helm of the European Parliament.